Project Link What is the Flat Classroom 2008 Project? The Flat Classroom Project is a global, hands-on working together project for middle and senior high school students. One of the main goals of the project is to 'flatten' or lower the classroom walls so that instead of each class working isolated and alone, 2 or more classes are joined virtually to become one large classroom. The Project uses Web 2.0 tools such as Wikispaces and Ning to make communication and interaction between students and teachers from all participating classrooms easier. The topics studied and discussed are real-world scenarios based on 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman.
The Flat Classroom Project 2006 is featured in the 3rd edition of Friedman's book in Chapter 13, 'If it's not happening it's because you're not doing it', page 501-503.
Friedman_Pic_07.jpg
It was founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA)
and Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy, Qatar) in 2006. My Class's Role in the Flat Classroom 2008 Project
This year, we were accepted as Peer Reviewers in The Flat Classroom Project 2008, which linked high students in five different countries. My fifth and sixth grade students were able to review, comprehend, analyze and evaluate the collaborative projects developed by the global high school partners. My students chose to evaluate 2 projects, the Google wiki and the World Wide Web wiki because they were familiar with the concepts and some of the trends researched. Soundboarding: Our Task
Our task as peer reviews was to use a sounding board to communicate the effectiveness of high school students' wikis addressing the topics of Google and World Wide Web. To do this we reviewed and utilize the strategies of Sharon Peter, an online project innovator, offered about how to provide powerful feedback.
We were aware these comments would be read and the suggestions offered would be considered as they revised their wiki for final production. My students took this job seriously, knowing they were chosen to review students at a higher grade level, and realized the importance of powerful and focused feedback. Because of the quick time-frame turnaround we were under, the students only had one day to read, analyze, evaluate and review the projects.We submitted our review via the the project's discussion tab wiki tool so the high school students would have valuable and timely information to consider.
Feedback Process
This is the process we took to complete this task. Considering some of the content was a challenge for elementary kids, I modeled the process and assisted students with concepts unfamiliar to them. We read and discuss in groups to assist each other with understanding the content. Our discussion centered on these topics:
What do you understand about the trend?
Why do you think the trend is important for the future?
If the actual report is written for adults, how could the project teams make the information easier for you to understand?
What would you expect to find out in each trend's section?
How will you decide if the project team has done a good job of their trend?
Student Work
After we discussed ideas together, I had student use a template within our wiki to respond to the high school students. Here are the examples of the aspects they were asked to respond to and critique:
Quality of Content
Communication / Collaboration
Presentation - Layout and Design
Final Project Share
Please click on the links below to see the review my 5th and 6th grade students crafted and submitted to the Flat Classroom students and coordinators. I believe this provided students an opportunity to see how the Internet is evolved for a web 1.0 tool (read only) to a web 2.0 tool (read/write) and how important it is to evaluate content for validity. clarity, and quality.
Project Link
What is the Flat Classroom 2008 Project?
The Flat Classroom Project is a global, hands-on working together project for middle and senior high school students.
One of the main goals of the project is to 'flatten' or lower the classroom walls so that instead of each class working isolated and alone, 2 or more classes are joined virtually to become one large classroom. The Project uses Web 2.0 tools such as Wikispaces and Ning to make communication and interaction between students and teachers from all participating classrooms easier. The topics studied and discussed are real-world scenarios based on 'The World is Flat' by Thomas Friedman.
The Flat Classroom Project 2006 is featured in the 3rd edition of Friedman's book in Chapter 13, 'If it's not happening it's because you're not doing it', page 501-503.
It was founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA)
and Julie Lindsay (Qatar Academy, Qatar) in 2006.
My Class's Role in the Flat Classroom 2008 Project
This year, we were accepted as Peer Reviewers in The Flat Classroom Project 2008, which linked high students in five different countries. My fifth and sixth grade students were able to review, comprehend, analyze and evaluate the collaborative projects developed by the global high school partners. My students chose to evaluate 2 projects, the Google wiki and the World Wide Web wiki because they were familiar with the concepts and some of the trends researched.
Soundboarding: Our Task
Our task as peer reviews was to use a sounding board to communicate the effectiveness of high school students' wikis addressing the topics of Google and World Wide Web. To do this we reviewed and utilize the strategies of Sharon Peter, an online project innovator, offered about how to provide powerful feedback.
We were aware these comments would be read and the suggestions offered would be considered as they revised their wiki for final production. My students took this job seriously, knowing they were chosen to review students at a higher grade level, and realized the importance of powerful and focused feedback. Because of the quick time-frame turnaround we were under, the students only had one day to read, analyze, evaluate and review the projects.We submitted our review via the the project's discussion tab wiki tool so the high school students would have valuable and timely information to consider.
Feedback Process
This is the process we took to complete this task. Considering some of the content was a challenge for elementary kids, I modeled the process and assisted students with concepts unfamiliar to them. We read and discuss in groups to assist each other with understanding the content. Our discussion centered on these topics:
Student Work
After we discussed ideas together, I had student use a template within our wiki to respond to the high school students. Here are the examples of the aspects they were asked to respond to and critique:
Final Project Share
Please click on the links below to see the review my 5th and 6th grade students crafted and submitted to the Flat Classroom students and coordinators. I believe this provided students an opportunity to see how the Internet is evolved for a web 1.0 tool (read only) to a web 2.0 tool (read/write) and how important it is to evaluate content for validity. clarity, and quality.
Google Sounding Board Review
World Wide Web Sounding Board Review
source